Corporate means relating to a corporation, which is a type of business organization owned by shareholders and run by executives and managers. When you hear about corporate headquarters, that's the main office where a company's top leaders work. Corporate profits are the money a corporation earns, and corporate strategy is the big-picture plan for how the business will succeed.

The word sometimes carries different feelings depending on context. A corporate job might mean stable employment with good benefits at a large, established company. But people also use corporate to describe things that feel impersonal or overly focused on business efficiency. If someone says a coffee shop lost its warm, personal feel after becoming part of a big chain, they might mean it no longer has the special touch it once had.

You might hear about corporate culture, meaning the shared values and ways of doing things at a company, or corporate responsibility, which refers to how businesses consider their impact on communities and the environment. The corporate world generally means the realm of large businesses and professional office work, as opposed to small businesses, nonprofits, or government work.